Improvement in sewing-machines



N. W. HARRINGTON.

Sewing Machine.

Patented Nov. 17, 1857,

Fay I.

Ptl'Ens Phetol'nhognphnr. Wnhingwn. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

N. V. HARRINGTON, OF JAMESTOXVN, NE\V YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,639, dated November 17, 1857.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, N. XV. HARRINGTON, of Jamestown, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section of a machine with my improvements, taken parallel with the needle-arm. Fig. 2 is a plan of that portion of the stand of the machine below the red line x x of Fig. 1, said portion being made separate from the top plate 011 which the sewing is performed, and carrying independently of the said plate the whole of the looping and feeding mechanism and the main shaft of the machine. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the stand on a smaller scale than Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a top view of the looping contrivance detached from the machine. Fig. 5 are separate plan views of the two parts of the looper.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in a looper of novel construction, operating in combination with an eye-pointed needle to sew what is known as the chain-stitch with a single thread. I

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A B is the stand of the machine, made in two parts, of which the lower part, A, (shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,) consists of a horizontal frame, of metal or other material, of square or other form, having feet or other supports cast with or securely attached to it, or being in any way so constructed as to stand on any suitable horizontal support; and the upper part, B, (shown in Figs. 1 and 3,) consists of a plate with a downwardlyprojecting rim, to a, corresponding in form with the frame A, so that it may be supported thereon, said rim being fitted to said frame with dowels (Z (Z, orin any other manner that will prevent the two being displaced relatively to each other. The two parts A and B are secured together by hooks and staples c c, as shown in Fig. 3, on two or more sides, such hooks, when unfastened, permitting the upper part, B, to be lifted off the lower part, A. The upper part, B, has cast with or firmly secured to it the needle-arm C, which supports the needlelever D, and which contains a guide for the needle-bar E, which is operated by the lever D in the usual manner.

In the back part of the frame A are the bearings for the main rotating shaft F of the machine, which carries the cam G, by which motion is given through an upright slider, Z), and connecting-rod e to the lever D, the said slide working in a guide, f, cast upon or secured rigidly to the plate B, the said shaft F also carrying a crank g, which gives through a connecting-rod g a reciprocating motion to a horizontal slider, H, which works between guides h h in the frame A, the said slider serving to give motion to the looper and to the feed apparatus. In the front part of the frame A is a horizontal arc-formed guide t i for the arc-formed looper-carrierl, and in front of the guide i i in the said frame are the bearings for the shaft j of the feed-wheel J. The looper-carrier I is attached to the front end of a horizontal lever, K, whose rear end is connected by a rod, k, with the horizontal slider H before mentioned, the said lever working 011 a fulcrum, Z, secured in a cross-rail, L, of the frame A, and transmitting motion from the slider H to the looper-carrier. At one side of the feed-wheel shaft the frame A con tains bearings for the shaft m of a ratchetwheel, m, which carries a pinion, n, gearing with a gear, 0, on the feed-wheel shaft, which ratchet-wheel derivesthe necessary motion to operate the feed-whecl from a long pawl, 12, attached to ahorizontallever, M, which works on a fulcrum, q, secured in the frame A, the said lever deriving the necessary motion from the lever K through a connectingrod, 0', connecting the two levers.

The driving-shaft and the whole of the looping and feed apparatus being contained in or carriedby the frame A, and the-whole of the needle mechanism, with the exception of the cam which drives it, being attached to the top plate, B, of the stand, affords great facility for the repair and adjustment of the working parts of the machine, as by undoing the fastenings c c and taking out the joint-pin cat the connection of the rod 0 and lever D and lifting off the 2, and in all respects in such a manner as to enable them to be distinctly seen and easily worked at; whereas in other machines it is necessary to turn the stand upside down to do any thing to those parts of the machine, and at the best any repair or adjustment of those parts is in such case attended with much difficulty. This improvement in the construction of the stand is applicable to those machines which use a looper or to those employing a shuttle.

' If desired, the plate B can be hinged to one side of frame A, and fastenings may be provided on the opposite side to hold it down, and in that case, when it is desired to repair or adjust the feeding and looping mechanism, 810., the plate B can be turned over off the frame A, instead of being removed entirely.

My improved looping contrivance or looper consists of three fingers, s t a, all attached to the carrier I, and moving in planes perpen dicular to the movement of the needle. The finger S, which is situated below the other two, or farther from the cloth or other material to be sewed is of curved form on two sides, but straight, or nearly so, on the other two, one side which works next the needle being in the form of an are described from-the fulcrum or center of motion 1, andthe opposite being of such form as to give it a gentle taper toward its extremity, which is pointed, sothat it may enter readily between the thread and the needle after the latter has been protruded through the cloth or material to be sewed. It is secured tothe carrier I by a screw, 1 The fingers t u,which are above 8 or nearer to the material, are of taper form and arranged side by side, with their points in the opposite direction to the point of.s, and the sides which are next each other are both in the form of arcs described from the center of motion Z, except that t,which is longer than a, has its point curved round the point of a, but yet not touching it, such curvature causing it to reach over that edge of the finger s, which works close to the needle, and the said edge of the latter fin- .gcr being slightly hollowed, as shown at underneath the point of t.

Thesefingers may be made of one piece of metal, as represented ,and

secured to the carrier Iby two screws, w w, as shown, or may be made separate and separately secured to the carrier. They are arranged at such distance apart and otherwise so arranged that there is just room enough for the needle and thread to work freely between them.

The stitch is formed by the looper acting in combination with the needle in the following manner: WVhen the needle has descended with the thread through the cloth or material to be sewed, and been retracted far enough to let the thread slack on the under side of the c1oth,the

point of the tooths of the looper, which is at that time moving in the direction indicatedby the arrow 6, (shown in Fig. 2,) passes between the needle and thread, and as the needle continues rising, and the looper moving around the thread is retained by the finger in the form of a loop, which is extended in width as the wider portion of the finger moves in it. The finger s enters the loop in this way to a point beyond the extremity of the finger t, and as the looper returnsi. 6., moves in the opposite direction, or that indicated by the arrow 7 in Fig. 4: the point of the finger. enters the loop, as shown in Fig. 4, where the loop is shown in blue color, and afterward nearly the whole of both fingers in pass into the loop, which is kept extended over these fingers, as shown in blue color in Fig. 2, while the next descent of the needle is made, and the needle passing between these fingers cannot fail to pass through the loop, carrying with it the thread from which the finger s, when it returns in the direction of the arrow 6, commences the forma tion of a new loop. Every time the needle carries the thread through the material the above-described operation of the looper is repeated, and the succession of loop stitches,

passing one through another and through the material, form a continuous seam.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v The looper composed of three fingers, s t 24,

arranged and operating together, in combination with the needle, substantially as herein described.

N. W. HARRINGTON.

Witnesses:

H. P. DUDLEY, DEFOUST \VELD. 

